Phew!

Back in ireland again. Wow, what a journey. Croatia was amazing, I'm still processing it all. Again, I owe so much to couchsurfing. The people I met through that program really made a world of difference. From advice on where to find great food in Sarajevo to a firsthand look at the devistation of Vukovar, a small town on the Croatian/Serbian border. I drank with the locals, danced with a sea of sweaty Croatian men, watched team Hrvatska win a football match, ate pizza under the night sky in the shadow of the fortress that protects old town Osijek, walked through the woods near Virovitica and gathered mushrooms that we ate for breakfast the next day, tasted boiled chestnuts and didn't like them so much, tasted roasted chestnuts and liked them better, got completely lost in Zagreb and couldn't find a toilet, tried dried figs for the first time - oh! sweet heaven! played for an hour with a 5 year old boy with only a handful of shared words between us, fell in love with the Adriatic coast, ate the best pizza I have ever tasted, had the motto "Nema Straja!" bestowed upon me (if means No Fear), sat in many terasas drinking scrupmtious beverages, climbed the gorgeous bell tower of Spilt, ate grapes that tasted like they had been filled with perfume, marvelled at plethora of produce at the green market in Split, went to a Croatian rock concert, had the nicest hostel I've ever stayed in all to myself, ate fish soup with Igor and Pavel, had a teeny sip of tripe stew at lunch with Vinko and Kosta, chocolate coated sour cherry honey cakes with Zarko, the best shish kabob ever with Emre and Umit, and too many delicious things to list with Spomenko and Suncha. This weekend I plan for the leek soup detox.

Loads of pictures but I'm actually still in Dublin, so pictures will have to wait a few more days until I'm back with my computer.

For those who are interested, here is the recap of my route...

Day 1 - Carndonagh to Dublin, spent the day rummaging through Dublin
Day 2 - Morning/afternoon in Malahide, a town north of dublin, evening flight to Zadar, Croatia.
Day 3 - Bus from Zadar to Split
Day 4 - Split
Day 5 - Split
Day 6 - Bus from Split to Sarajevo, arrived very late at night
Day 7 - Sarajevo wanderings
Day 8 - Sarajevo wanderings pt 2
Day 9 - Sarajevo to Osijek, Croatia
Day 10 - Osijek
Day 11 - Osijek to Virovitica
Day 12 - Virovitica
Day 13 - Virovitica to Voloder
Day 14 - Voloder
Day 15 - Voloder (but spent most of the day in Zagreb)
Day 16 - Voloder to Zagreb to Zadar to Dublin
Day 17 - If all goes right, Dublin to Carndonagh!